Movies: Past, present and future

Nick Nolte's publicist roused him from a deep sleep to talk to the media about his supporting actor nomination Tuesday morning for his role in "Warrior." “I’m doin’ all right. I’m just trying to drink coffee and eat some toast –- I just woke up."

Surely, the excitement of a nomination must be producing an adrenaline rush?

“At 70, I’m moved you could say -– I don’t know you’d say excited. That’s for young people. Because, you know, you’ve had experience with these emotions by 70. It’s not as new and fresh. Some younger people get it, and almost pass out –- screaming and jumping up and down. It’s not my style."

Did you think you'd get a nomination as many pundits had predicted?

"It was tough this year -– it’s always hard to predict. I’m a two-time loser. You just can’t predict it. I can’t go by ‘third time’s a charm.’ As age enters in, Plummer’s got it. It’s sentiment there. But to draw distinctions about who’s the best, you can’t really distinguish."

"It’s very good. You have to have a little patience with it, but once you do, it’s very good. Dustin Hoffman -– there’s great respect between us."

Is writing harder at this point than acting?

"It’s very difficult. You get inspired and start and then all of the sudden you realize -– this is hard work! I find the discipline is really rough -– you’ve got to write every day. Because if you skip it, you won't be able to write when you do get the ideas that connect the scenes. These scenes I’m [working on now] are coming very slowly and very hard."

If you could use the Oscar podium to forward any idea, what would you put out there?

"We’re using this as a platform for 'Luck.' Of course. It sounds a little cold, but these things are really spread by word of mouth. I’d use that opportunity, definitely."

How will you celebrate today?

"It looks like I’ll be doing this all day -– the phone is just ringing and ringing."

This year's SAG Awards nominees, announced Wednesday morning, include a number of performances in films that haven't opened yet, have only had brief one-week runs to qualify for Academy Awards consideration, or simply flew under the radar. Here's a quick overview if you were stumped by titles including "Albert Nobbs," "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and "The Iron Lady."

"Albert Nobbs," about a woman living a double life as a man to work and survive in 19th century Ireland, received nominations for lead actress Glenn Close and supporting actress Janet McTeer. If you haven't seen the film, it's because it doesn't open until next week. The film did play at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals, where its awards campaign began in earnest.

Tilda Swinton received a lead actress nomination for her role in "We Need to Talk About Kevin," in which she plays a mother struggling to come to terms with her son's involvement in a school shooting. The film began a one-week qualifying run in L.A. and New York on Dec. 9 and will open commercially in the same cities Jan. 27. It played at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and you can watch our video report below or read Kenneth Turan's review of the film here.

"The Iron Lady," a biopic about Margaret Thatcher, garnered a lead actress nomination for Meryl Streep. The film opens Dec. 30 in L.A. and New York and will go nationwide Jan. 13. British critics have lauded her performance.

Some low-profile performances from earlier in the year that earned SAG nominations include Demian Bichir's turn in "A Better Life," in which he plays an illegal-immigrant gardener trying to provide for his son; Nick Nolte in "Warrior," in which he plays the estranged father of dueling brothers; and Christopher Plummer in "Beginners," in a supporting role as a recently out-of-the-closet widower who embraces his new lifestyle with gusto.

The SAG Awards winners will be named Jan. 29 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

"Warrior" is a movie about a pair of tough-as-nails brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) who climb into a mixed martial arts cage and thrash out their differences. In a recent conversation at The Times' Envelope Screening Series, "Warrior" director Gavin O'Connor and his live-wire star Nick Nolte, who plays the shaky patriarch of the pugilist clan, entered into a fracas of their own over the seemingly tame subject of "experience."

"Experience doesn't lead to knowledge necessarily," said Nolte, 70, who has more than 80 film and TV roles under his belt. "It can lead to real bad habits."

Nolte said he did once try to pull rank on O'Connor--who is more than 20 years his junior--over an issue that affected "Warrior's" opening weekend box office. "Gavin has laughed at me, once, when I said, 'Well I've got experience. I know how these things go,' " Nolte said. "He literally laughed.... It was why we opened at 5 [million] instead of 10. Gavin said, 'Don't tell me that. I know far more than you because I'm listening every day. Do you talk to the head of the studio every day?' "

O'Connor--who is Nolte's Malibu neighbor and who wrote the "Warrior" role with Nolte in mind-- immediately fired back: "You live in a cave at home like Osama bin Laden. You have no access to anything and you pretend like you know more than everybody else. It's called narcissism."

Nolte appeared to take the teasing in stride. "That's acting, you know.... I didn't take it personally, Gavin," he said.

In "Warrior," Nick Nolte, 70, plays a gruff recovering alcoholic trying to find absolution from his two sons, a pair of mixed martial arts fighters (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton).

"The old man's real problem isn't alcohol, because alcohol is just an after-effect," Nolte said of his character, who was written specifically for him by "Warrior" writer-director Gavin O'Connor. "It's to take care of the pain that's already been created... He didn't love properly. ...I suppose people can change and make it work, but change takes a long time. He's trying. He's made the change in himself and he's now trying to get forgiveness for what he's done."

Nolte has his own checkered past, including a well-publicized arrest for driving under the influence in 2002 and a felony conviction for selling counterfeit documents when he was 24.

In this video from the Times' Envelope Screening Series, Nolte discusses how his personal history influences his work, and his reception in Hollywood.

"Gavin kind of destroyed those guys, because they became physically different than they'd ever been in their entire lives," said Nick Nolte, who costars as the brothers' alcoholic father. "I think they became narcissistic."

Nolte and O'Connor discuss the virtues and vices of actor-athletes in this video from The Times' Envelope Screening Series.